July 27: The weather is predicted to be good for several days starting July
31, so we are heading up the hill in two waves. Fredrick, Chhiring, Chris K.
and Eric are leaving today for Camp I, while Chris W., Paul, and Mike will
follow along on July 29. We intend to go as high as possible. Almost every
team on the mountain is cooperating to make this push, as it is the first (and
possibly last) period of weather we might get that will be calm enough to
attempt the summit. As a group, we’ve decided not to post updates until we are
back in Base Camp. Why? First, it takes a lot of energy to worry about posting
on the internet while we are climbing. Second, we don’t have a BC manager to
deal with these issues. If you visit some of the climbing news sites you will
likely see information posted about the progress of different teams. We are
not sending any information to these sites. Some sites post a lot of
unverified information that later turns out to be wrong. So, Don’t believe
anything unless you hear it directly from us!! We will be carrying satellite
phones on the mountain, so each member can contact his relatives if desired.
That is a personal choice of each member. Even so, we have limited battery
power so don’t be surprised if you don’t hear from us for many days. No news
is good news! We may not post on the web again until August 5 or so. Maybe
earlier, but don’t count on it. All members are in good health and good
spirits. We’ll talk to you soon. Mike

Dear EverestNews, The first major summit push on K2 is scheduled to start
tomorrow, with the lead teams hoping to summit on July 31. Other waves will
follow if the promised weather window holds true. Most of the teams on the
Abruzzi and SSE Spur are working together to fix the route.

There has been little activity on the mountain in the last 10 days due to
winds on the upper peak. Mike

Earlier: July 23: We continue to wait in Base Camp for good weather. We anticipate
being down off the mountain until at least July 27. Everyone is trying to stay
occupied after many days of inactivity. Weather at BC isn’t too bad, but the
winds are far too high to climb above Camp 1 right now. We’ll update again in
a couple of days when the weather forecasts allow us to see the trends at the
beginning of August. Cheers, Mike

Earlier: July 20: The weather forecast isn’t good for a number of days, so don’t
expect too much activity from us. Fredrick, Chris K., Chhiring, and Eric spent
an uncomfortable night at C3 before descending a couple of days ago. The route
up the Black Pyramid is long, and we’re happy to finally have a foothold on
the upper mountain. Mike, Chris W., and Paul are waiting on a weather window
to get in a couple of nights at C3. All climbers are in BC now. The group that
trekked out reached Islamabad a couple of days ago... Mike

Earlier: Here’s a short report. As the Magic 8 Ball says, “Things may become clear
shortly.”
Tim Horvath has left for home to attend to some personal matters. We’ll really
miss Tim’s experience on the mountain. He departed with Kirsty (who trekked to
Base Camp with Paul) and both were escorted down by Taimur, our trusty LO.
They should be back to Skardu in the next couple of days.
As for the rest of us, we’ve split into two groups: Chris K., Fredrick,
Chhiring and Eric form one team while Chris W., Paul, and Mike form the other
group. We had to do this because there are simply not enough tent sites
available on the mountain. The photo attached shows the best tent site
available at Camp II (6700m, 22,000 ft). The ‘campsite’ is a 30 degree slope,
and the stuff you see sticking out of the platform is bits of old abandoned
tents. We can’t get in enough tents at either Camp 1 or Camp 2 to handle more
than 4 climbers at a time. (You may be able to see a telephoto of Camp 2 if
you go to the expedition web page and navigate to the route description).
All of the ‘climbing’ is on fixed ropes so far. Even so, the route is not an
obvious ridge. We follow snowfields, rock ribs, and generally weave our way up
through fairly featureless terrain
Chris W., Paul, and Mike spent four nights on the mountain from June 11-15,
acclimatizing at Camps I and 2 during some windy weather. The other group is
on the hill today, having spend last night (June 16) at Camp 2. We are really
hoping they are pushing for Camp 3 today, as the weather appears excellent
from Base Camp.
The other teams that arrived earlier than us are thinking about a summit
attempt in a few days, assuming the weather forecast holds. It’s unlikely that
any of our team could participate as we are behind the other groups in
acclimatization. But who knows? Each climber will make his own decision.
As we spend more time on the mountain, there will be longer intervals between
blog posts. We’ll try and keep you up-to-date as well as we can.
Mike

Earlier: In the last few days, most of the teams on both the Abruzzi and SSE Spur
have agreed to cooperate to increase the chances of a successful summit
attempt. There have been two meetings in which the teams decided who would fix
rope above C4, what gear would be needed above Camp 3, and who would supply
the gear. This lead team will be made up mostly of high-altitude porters from
Nepal and Pakistan, and most will be using oxygen. A weather report today has
some teams prepared to start a summit bid on July 21, though they are awaiting
additional forecasts to confirm the summit weather window.

Teams are also hoping to summit Broad Peak and Gasherbrum I and II over the
next two days. The winds will be the deciding factor.

Earlier: Unstable Weather:
July 10th, 2008 : July 10: Greetings! We’ve been sitting through many days of
unstable weather, which is the norm on K2. We’ve been making forays up the
hill to sleep a night or two at Camp I, but bad weather has kept us from
getting much higher since our last report. Today, three climbers are hoping to
sleep at C2 and another will stay at C1. Tomorrow, the rest of us will climb
to C1 and then spend a couple of nights at C2. The goal right now is to
acclimatize to Camp 2 altitude and sleep at Camp 3 over the next couple of
weeks, which will prepare us for a summit attempt. Still a long time before
any summit attempts from our team. Most of the team helped re-establish the
mess tent one morning. The ice melts out and you have to reset all tent
platforms every couple of weeks. We moved lots of rock and the newly pitched
tent is better organized and seems to be more spacious. All other teams are
waiting for good weather as well. We wander between the various Base Camps,
checking on the weather reports and picking up bits of information. Patience
is the key to this game, and we have a month left at K2 to get the job done.
Next time, I hope to have more action to report. The weather looks better for
the next two days, so we’ll try to make good use of it. Mike

July 5: We are experiencing a beautiful day, and all members are in Base
Camp. We have established a tent at Camp I, and yesterday two members reached
the site of Camp II and stashed a tent and other gear. It was too windy to do
more, but they did a great job just getting there.
Today we plan to take a team photo (since all members are now here) and
strategize for the upcoming days. Getting all members acclimatized and Camp I
and II established with two tents each are the top goals. The weather forecast
is decent but you never know on K2!
The whole team was assembled in BC, so we had a big planning session–quite
productive. The trick is to get the right gear to the right camps at the right
time, and to let everyone have plenty of time to acclimatize at the various
camps. We now know our jobs the next few days, so there will be a lot of
activity on the hill until the weather goes bad.
Please note that we can’t keep you posted on the exact movements of every
climber every day. We agreed to function as a team–not individuals– so it
really doesn’t matter who does what, as long as we continue to make progress.
Everyone is healthy and motivated, though the goat stomach we had for lunch
tested even the most grizzled veteran. It was actually quite nice smothered in
chiles.
Mike

Earlier: July 2nd, 2008 : July 2: Our long-awaited cargo arrived yesterday. We had
spent the past three days scanning the moraine below our camp for porters,
much like sailors used to search for land from the crow’s nest of their ship.
4000m of rope, ice screws, snow stakes, pitons, and lots of other group food
and equipment now crowd our mess tent. We expect Paul and Kirsty to arrive
this afternoon, so our team will finally be complete. Yesterday saw Eric,
Chhiring, Fred, and Chris K. getting halfway to Camp 1 after sleeping in
Advance Base Camp (ABC–get used to the acronyms!). Today, Fred and Chris K.
are attempting to reach C1 and get a tent in place. Tim and Chris W. have
carried gear to ABC in support of Fred and Chris K. and will stay the night in
ABC. Tomorrow they will head up to C1. Mike will finally be able to organize
his food etc. (much was in the cargo shipment) and will head up to ABC this
afternoon and stay the night. Our short-term goal is to establish two tents at
C1. The weather is predicted to be good for the next few days, after several
days that saw alternating sun, clouds, and snow showers. We have hopefully
worked out the political issues that occur when multiple teams attempt the
same route. A fuller account of this is best left for post-expedition
discussion. These issues are a normal part of climbing a big and crowded
mountain these days.

Earlier: International K2 Expedition: Saturday, June 28. Today most team members
carried loads to Advanced Base Camp through light snow and wind. We hope that
our tardy air cargo arrives within the next two days, as we have no tents or
rope for the mountain. Paul Walters is scheduled to arrive in a day or two,
bringing the team to full strength.

We continue to meet the other occupants of K2 Base Camp and hope to develop
good relationships with the other climbers on our route (Abruzzi Ridge). Most
of us are also renewing old acquaintances forged on other mountains.

Our goal is to climb K2 without the use of supplemental oxygen and
high-altitude porters. Since other teams have been in BC for a while,

they are already placing fixed ropes on the climb. Most of this work is
being done by Sherpa and Pakistani high-altitude porters hired by the Korean
and Serbian teams working on the Abruzzi. Mike

Earlier: Hi! I haven’t won the
technology battles, but I’m gaining an advantage. My phone will only acquire a
satellite signal if it’s heated to 100 degrees F or higher! This makes life
difficult. Also, my iBook has no idea how to regulate its battery, so it will
go from 100% charge to 0% within seconds. Argh.

Things are getting under
control. We are still waiting on our air cargo with all of our mountain gear.
Until we get it (2-3 days) we’re limited in what we can do. Nobody is in a big
hurry (which is good) and I’m finally getting organized. I can’t wait to get
up on the hill, as it means I’m not doing organizational crap.

Aside from a terminally-runny
nose, I’m feeling pretty good. Sleeping better, coughing very little.
Administrative duties are decreasing, but we still have some issues to deal
with. Today I might actually be able to get together my gear to visit ABC
tomorrow! Cheers,
Mike

Earlier: Hi, I’m going to keep it short again. I’m fighting way too
many technology battles. My brand new and expensive Thuraya 2520 sat phone now
refuses to pick up the sat signal. It’s been nothing but trouble since
arriving in Pakistan. You can’t use it in the USA because there is no
satellite coverage. Luckily Chris K. has the same phone (which works for calls
but has other problems) so we’re covered for now. And, my computer battery has
a very short lifespan (so I’m typing quickly).

Aside from a minor cough and some sniffles, all is well with
me. I’m still in the middle of a three-ring circus, with our main group in
Paiju, cargo in Skardu (tomorrow), and Paul coming to Islamabad in two days.
The hike is the easy part!

Today is a rest day, which I need. The trip will get simpler
for me the further we go, so I’m looking forward to simply climbing the
mountain. I didn’t realize how buried I was in logistics until most of it went
away.

Time for another cup of tea.
P.S. Now my phone is working-at least for the moment!
P.P.S. It’s three days later. We’re in BC tomorrow. More soon
Mike

Earlier: Greetings! If you’re reading
this, our technology is working, at least in part. We are in Paiju, at 3300m
just below the snout of the Baltoro Glacier. Today (Friday, June 20) is a rest
day. This may seem silly since we’ve only been walking two days, but in
reality we’ve been traveling for several days (first by plane, then jeep, then
by foot).

The trek has been uneventful
so far. The first days are always dusty- the valley is full of dust and sand
that is formed as the glacier grinds up rock. Luckily it rained the first
night on the trail, and yesterday the dust was minimal. The sun can be brutal,
so an early start paid off yesterday.

Paiju is a campsite on a
hillside with some trees. The tents are pitched on a series of terraces. This
rest day is used to prepare for the trek up the glacier, and many goats have
met their end as they are slaughtered to provide meet for the porters.

The
team is in generally good health. We have the usual collection of sore
throats, sniffles, and the occasional person with diarrhea. Hopefully today
will allow us to rehydrate and rest.

All of our air cargo is in
Pakistan and will arrive a couple of days after we get to Base Camp. This,
along with various technology issues, have been the biggest headaches so far.
Mike’s brand-new Thuraya satellite phone seems to have quit working, and his
computer battery is also erratic.

We should arrive in Base Camp
on June 23 or 24, and we’ll post a new dispatch then. Mike